When Jenny Torres decided she wanted to go to college,
she had no idea how she could make it happen. Though she technically lives in
Silicon Valley, she grew up in East Palo Alto, a relatively poor area separated
from Palo Alto by an interstate that might as well be a wall representing the
digital divide. While Palo Alto kids' college careers are often assumed, she
grew up in a family where no one had ever attended a university.

Torres' mom, a factory worker and immigrant from Mexico
who raised two children by herself, had always supported their education. But
"she was thinking 'graduate from high school,' " says Torres, 18. That alone
would have been a great accomplishment.

Jenny Torres

This fall, Torres will become a freshman at the University
of California-Berkeley. She credits a series of programs, including scholarships,
mentoring and an internship project, started last year, that broadened her view
of the possible.

Torres was one of seven interns in a pilot program run
and funded by Silicon Valley company Homestead.com.
Not only did she solidify her dream, but after working with computers all summer,
she decided she wanted to become a programmer.

This year, she's continuing in the program, Homestretch,
which has now stretched to include 17 students and two other companies, Hewlett-Packard
and Applied Materials.

The program, which pays students $10 an hour, "gives me
the courage to go farther," she says. She also wants to go back and help her
community. "I wish I could make a difference later. I want all little kids growing
up to have things I didn't have." Torres also has won several scholarships,
including one from H-P for $35,000.

LaNita Juniel, 17, also is a second-year student intern
with Homestretch; she was featured in this column last year. "I wasn't sure
about college," she says. But her mentors at Homestead "reinforced the importance
of a college education. It opened my mind." She'll attend Clark Atlanta University
next spring, and plans to go into the Air Force Reserve.

East Palo Alto councilwoman Sharifa Wilson, who designed
the program with Homestead CEO Justin Kitch, is hoping to continue its expansion.
"I'd like to have kids in every company in the valley."

Adds Kitch: "When the market is down, it's even more important
for companies to participate in these types of programs. It pays dividends for
years."

Paying for the Inside story

Inside.com,
bought in April by Brill Media Holdings, is pressing hard to make visitors pay
for its coverage of the entertainment and new-media industries. Readers will
be asked for $3.95 a month to access most stories; Inside.com already had a
membership fee of $19.95 per month for "premium content," above and beyond daily
news coverage. Readers also can opt to pay by the piece, with prices ranging
from 40 cents to upwards of $10, says Brill's Stuart Jordan. He would not provide
subscription numbers.